San Ignacio, Belize {Part 2}

Our last day in Belize, we did a 1/2 day tour to Barton Creek Cave. This is a Mayan cave system that is only accessible by canoe. We were basically paddled along the mile long creek, so it wasn't the most entertaining. According to our guide, there were over 20 skeletons on ledges above us, but we weren't able to access them. Since we were on a private tour, we did get to go through some pretty low stalactites, so that was fun. Compared to the ATM caves, it was honestly a let down. We did get to take pictures here though!

Getting to know our guide paid off as well - we were able to bring a few illegally imported Guatemalan beers into the cave with us! Apparently Belikin (Belize's beer) has a monopoly on the beer industry here. While it was good, it definitely didn't compare to the Guatemalan stuff!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at our hotel. Ka' Ana is a small resort that was definitely outside of the norm for us. We're so glad we splurged a little to stay here! We had breakfast delivered daily to our room, tours completely arranged for us, turn-down service (complete with tasty treats), yummy food/cocktails and amazing service. The resort area was beautiful as well.  I would obviously recommend it to everyone!

The next morning, we caught a 30 minute flight from Maya Flats Airstrip to Belize's international airport in a 4-seater plane! It's a good thing we're not claustrophobic or afraid of flying/heights! After a quick wait at the airport and a super delicious breakfast, we were confirmed (and upgraded to exit row!) for our quick flight back to Houston.

Honestly? Belize was probably the perfect mix for Jason's and my vacation tastes. The active/cultural experiences were amazing and even found on the same excursions. I can't say enough good things - the people were amazing, the sites were amazing, the food was amazing.

As always, thanks SWA (and United) for letting us fly there for cheap!

Up Next: We're looking forward to a getaway within Texas and hopefully a trip to Sonoma Valley and/or New Orleans to finish out the summer.

Tikal, Guatemala

If you've been following along for a while, you'll know we love ruins (here and here). Tikal is actually closer to Belize than most cities in Guatemala, so we knew that visiting was something we wanted to do on this trip. We booked a trip through our hotel and had a great guide in Wilbert.

It took about 2 hours to get from San Ignacio to Tikal (with border crossing). The whole drive, we learned about Belizean and Guatemalan people, Mayan history, and Tikal itself. It definitely paid off to have a guide for this trip as we learned so much that we would have missed otherwise. Also, he made the border crossing into Guatemala SUPER easy.

The picture below is a great example of how even the "restored" temples haven't been completely unearthed.

Below is Temple 4. This is the tallest temple at over 200 ft. The view from the top was used as the Rebel Base in Episode IV for all of you Star Wars' fans (me!!).

During our explorations, we saw tons of spider monkeys, green parrots, toucans, coati (like raccoons), and heard many other animals. The weirdest sound was howler monkeys - they sounded like jaguars! Our guides said that we were very lucky to see all of the wildlife since they are usually only active at sunrise. Since it had just rained, the whole jungle was awake!

The temple below is an example of restoration in process. It takes many years before they can even clear away all of the jungle growth from this temple.

This is the main plaza below. We spent over an hour just exploring this area. It is the most restored area of all Tikal. It poured rain on us for about 10 minutes - we were in a rain forest after all!

Tikal was so much fun to explore. It was so interesting to see the unexplored mounds that could potentially enclose a grand temple. It reminded us a lot of Cambodia. We asked our Guatemalan guide why the government hasn't given Tikal more money in order to fund a quicker restoration. Basically - the government is corrupt and it would take millions of dollars (or quetzals) and many many years to accomplish it. So slow and steady(?) it is then.

It's astonishing that not much is known about the Mayan culture. Even their written language hasn't been fully deciphered. I definitely want to go explore more Mayan temples on the Yucatan now!

After a traditional Guatemalan lunch (and a new love of Guatemalan beer), we drove back to San Ignacio. We ended the day at the pool and then great food and cocktails at our hotel.

Next up: Our 1/2 Day at Barton Creek Cave and the end of our time in Central America.

San Ignacio, Belize {Part 1}

After our 4 days in Ambergris Caye, we took another quick hopper plane (30 min) to San Ignacio on the western border of Belize. Yup, Belize is tiny!! This town was to be our jumping off point for many day trips. We stayed at Ka Ana Belize and it was amazing. Seriously, I'm so glad we splurged a little to stay here. More on the hotel in a later post.

Our first adventure was to the Actun Tunichil Muknal Caves (or ATM Caves). Caves are known in Mayan folklore for being the entryway into the underworld. We arrived at the park entrance early, grabbed our gear, and made the 30 minute hike to the cave. After crossing through three rivers, (this tour is not for those who don't want to get wet!), we got to the cave entrance.

A tourist dropped his camera on a human skull that was over 1,000 years old, so no cameras are allowed on this tour any more. The pictures below are from Google to give you an idea just how cool this experience was!

 After we swam through the river (above), we had to wade through knee, waist, who-knows-how-deep water inside the cave and our guide pointed out different cave features along the way.  After about an hour, we reached the upper dry chamber and entered into a room that is called 'The Cathedral'. This room was so immense - it's easy to see why the Mayans thought this place was sacred. We had to change from our wet shoes into socks in order to preserve this holy place. From this point on, we were basically rock-climbing in order to climb between rooms.

I do have to mention that we paid for a private tour. This was definitely worth it as we were the first people in the cave in the morning and had the upper chamber to ourselves. Our guide turned off our headlights and basically creeped us out with talk of human sacrifice. It was pitch black at this point in the cave - you couldn't see your hand in front of your face! Imagine what you would have done if you were a Mayan and your torch went out?!

Our guide told us that sacrifice was an honor and guaranteed souls entrance into the afterlife. Once he turned the lights on, we were standing right in front of multiple skeletons and blood-letting pots that hadn't been moved from their spots in thousands of years. 

Since we were ahead of everyone else, we got to see a few additional chambers. We went into a room called the 'Angel's Cave' that had a body of a little baby in it. We saw many skeletons on our walk (there are 14 in all), but none as epic as the last. We made the final climb into the last dry chamber. It's up here that we saw the iconic 'crystal maiden' of the caves; a perfectly intact full skeleton encrusted into the rock.  

On the way out, Jason jokingly asked to slide down a mini waterfall. Since it was just us, the guide obliged! We shot through this tiny hole and came out in a tunnel that was barely wide enough for us to fit through. Since we couldn't touch the bottom or swim (it was too narrow to kick our legs), we had to shimmy along the walls. It was SO cool. We were obviously completely soaked at the end, but it was absolutely worth it.

Since the government has left ancient bones, pots, and other artifacts in place, instead of hauling them off to labs and museums, it made this trip unique. This was honestly the most authentic tour I've ever had and I would encourage everyone to make it down here quick - before they stop allowing tours! I honestly think this tour is one more "accident" away from closing. I definitely get why they want to protect as much as they can, but I am so grateful we were able to have the experience!

This ended up being the unanimous winner for coolest thing we did on our entire trip - it was so surreal! We both rank it up there right after Ha Long Bay as one of our best life experiences to date.

Next up: Our Day Trip to Tikal, Guatemala!

Ambergris Caye, Belize

Life after vacation is always hard, but life after a super relaxing vacation is even worse. We're still readjusting!

Last Saturday, we caught a quick nonstop flight from Houston down to Belize City on United. United is one of our favorites because they are just so dang cheap with the SWA agreement.

Our first 4 days in Belize were spent on Ambergris Caye. We reached the caye (pronounced key) via a quick hopper plane from Belize City. (I really do mean quick - total air time was 15 minutes!) After a ride via water taxi, we arrived at Belizean Shores. There was rum punch waiting for us upon our arrival and we quickly made our way to the pool bar for more!

Our days on the caye looked like this: spend time at the pool, walk along the beach, grab quick bites to eat, relax, repeat. Since Belize doesn't observe Daylight Savings Time, we would wake up with the sun - around 5:45am every morning! 

One day, we made the journey into town by biking on the beach. It started off fun, but pedaling 3.5 miles one way on sand was exhausting! We rewarded ourselves with a lunch at Caramba! for some traditional Belizean food. We had a kitchen in our room, so while we were in town, we stocked up on some essentials (and alcohol of course) before we headed back to our hotel. We definitely like being cheap when we can. I should also mention that Jason was an A+ cook!

The next day, we booked a snokeling excursion. Our first stop was Hol Chan Marine Reserve where we got to snorkel at the Barrier Reef. We saw all kinds of fish, sea turtles, Moray eels, barracudas, and sharks swimming in the sea grass and the coral.

We made our next stop of the tour at Shark Ray Alley where we swam with nurse sharks and sting rays. This was crazy as they were completely surrounding us. They were friendly sharks, but it was still a little scary! Our guide grabbed one and let us pet him - he was so scaly.

Our last day, we had some beach time and caught another water taxi back to town. We had a while to kill before our flight and ended up eating my favorite food of the whole trip - Wild Mango's! Ambergris Caye was a really beautiful island and we loved our relaxation time here!

Next up: Our stay in the jungle - San Ignacio, Belize!